Welcome to our weekly news roundup! Here we share stories from each of our Villages about our Programs, celebrations, children, and staff. If you’d like to receive these updates via email, please subscribe to our newsletter.
This week we accepted new students, expanded one of our schools, and attended a trade show!
Don’t forget to scroll all the way to the bottom to see our photo of the week!
Save the Date: Evenings of Hope 2019
Save the date for an evening of hope near you!
- Friday, September 27 in Kelowna, BC
- Saturday, October 5 in Ladner, BC
- Friday, October 11 in Ottawa, Ont
- Saturday, October 19 in Newmarket, Ont
- Friday, October 25 in Vancouver, BC
- Saturday, October 26 in Langley, BC
- Friday, November 1 in Comox, BC
And more dates to come!
Bulale (Tanzania): Meet Monica
VOH Bulale would like you to meet Monica. Monica is six years old and in grade one at our primary school in Bulale. Monica lives with her grandfather and grandmother in the Bulale community. Sadly, Monica’s father abandoned the family when she was very young. Shortly after, her mother left Monica with her grandparents and has not been heard from or seen since.
Despite difficult beginnings, Monica is a sweet little girl who is very polite and respectful. She likes to play with her friends who also study with her at our school.
As she continues to learn and grow, we see Monica coming out of her shell and joy growing more in her each day. We are grateful to be able to help bring hope into Monica’s life and to encourage her to be all she can be in the future!
Support a girl like Monica by becoming a sponsor! Visit our Sponsorship Page to learn more.
Bwiza (Burundi): Extending Our Primary School
This week at VOH Bwiza, our Burundi Director, Delson, met with the Lead team at our office to discuss how to expand our school at our satellite location in Maramvya so we can reach even more students.
In Maramvya, there are many children who are primary school age, but very few schools. We are so excited and thankful that at VOH Maramvya we have received donations that will allow us to build 3 new classrooms to help meet this need.
Construction has begun and we are planning now so that when the buildings are ready, we have everything in place to open! We can’t wait for this dream to become a reality!
Chongwe (Zambia): Grade 12 Exam Prep
This year, our school at VOH Chongwe added our first grade 12 class and this week the students started writing their national examination practicals.
In Zambia, all the grade 12s do practicals in all the sciences and computer subjects, which is a qualifying requirement to write 12 exams. After the practicals, our grade 12s will write their final theory examinations in all eight of the subjects they’ve taken.
We are confident they will get good grades after being taught by our dedicated and committed teaching staff. The use of the library has also been of great help and benefit in their preparations!
Kitwe (Zambia): International Trade Fair
This week VOH Kitwe visited Kitwe’s annual International Trade Fair. A trade fair is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services and meet with partners and customers.
At the event, our students were able to learn about various industries found within and outside Zambia.
Among the stands visited, one of them was Kafubu Water and Sewerage Company. They also visited the University of Zambia School of Health Sciences and the Police Service Department of Victim Support Unit and many more!
Malawi: Preschool Applications
This week at VOH Malawi we hosted our annual student intake days. During these two days, guardians and caregivers of orphan and vulnerable children from the community bring their 4 year-olds to apply for entrance into our program.
We have 35 spots that will be given to those most in need of our support. The accepted children will be the newest additions to our youngest preschool class.
We always have many more applications than available spaces. We work closely with a committee of 12 community leaders who help us discern who the most vulnerable are and thus in need of our support.
The decision is never an easy one, but through a combination of wisdom from our committee, our application process, and prayer, we trust we will be able to make the right decisions.
Maramvya (Burundi): End of Year Test Results!
Our preschool children at VOH Maramvya have just completed their end of the year tests. They were so excited to receive their results and to have all passed with high marks!
The teachers say they are amazed by the progress made by these little ones in only one year. Education is the most powerful weapon against poverty and we thank our sponsors and supporters for making it possible for us to provide free education for these young children.
We are conscious that our children come from a very poor community but we are confident that their future is bright!
Mongu (Zambia): Greenhouse Repair
We are so excited to get our greenhouse back up and running for the children’s homes at VOH Mongu! Our greenhouse took a bit of a hit last year after a few bad storms came through our area and tore some of the nettings off the sides.
This year, we have been working hard on repairing the netting and have recently gotten a volunteer from South Africa, who has a masters in botany and conservation, and is helping us to better the soil content, to plant crops that will grow nicely together, and show us a few tips and tricks for watering, feeding, and maintaining these crops.
Many of the older boys from the homes loved getting involved in repairing the greenhouse earlier in the year and digging up the sand and soil this last week to get it ready for new crops with some of our medium-term volunteers and volunteers from our local church.
We are so excited to see our crops do well and help to provide food and extra income for our homes!
Mwanza (Tanzania): Nicolaus Reunites with Family!
Recently at VOH Mwanza, we were able to reunite one of our children with his extended family.
Nicolaus came to live at VOH Mwanza back in 2005 as a baby after his mother passed away and there was no other family to take care of him.
When baby Nicolaus arrived he was underweight and had some health issues. Thankfully he received good care from our staff and in no time was a healthy, happy baby boy!
He has grown up so far at the Village, but recently our child welfare committee was able to make contact with his sister, who wanted to take Nicolaus to live with her and her family. After going through all of the procedures together with the Social Welfare office in Mwanza, we were able to successfully reunite Nicolaus with his sister and extended family after almost 14 years!
While we will miss Nicolaus greatly, we are very happy that he has been able to connect with his biological family, who are also happy to receive him.
We will continue to follow his story closely and work with his sister and family to ensure Nicolaus’ future remains bright. We are always happy to bring families back together.
Zimbabwe: Day of the African Child
Recently at VOH Zimbabwe, we celebrated the Day of the African Child. Due to current challenges in the nation of Zimbabwe, our celebrations were delayed, but we did not want to let this important occasion pass without celebrating together.
Our children presented poems, dramas, and songs. We also had some cultural exhibitions on the subject of children’s rights, which was the official theme of this year’s celebrations.
The day was graced by four other schools from our cluster and we hope next year we will have even more schools come. We partnered with a local organization, AIDS Healthcare Foundation Zimbabwe. They have been a great support to VOH Zimbabwe over the years.
We are grateful for all our partners and friends who make caring for children a priority!